Richardson plans to take first step toward White House run

Richardson plans to take first step toward White House runBy Nedra Pickler, Associated PressLast update: January 19, 2007 – 7:06 PMWASHINGTON — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson intends to take the initial step toward the Democratic nomination, hoping his extensive resume will fuel a campaign to become the first Hispanic president. Richardson plans to announce Sunday that he will soon file the papers to create a presidential exploratory committee, several officials with knowledge of his plans said Friday. The governor is scheduled to appear on ABC's "This Week."His entry would make the Democratic race the most diverse presidential contest in history. Besides Richardson's bid to be the first Hispanic chief executive, Sen. Barack Obama would be the first black president and likely candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the first female president.Richardson, 59, is a former congressman, U.N. ambassador and Energy Department secretary. He brings a wealth of experience in international affairs that has extended even into his governorship of a small but politically important swing state.He has hosted talks on North Korea's nuclear program in New Mexico and most recently traveled to Sudan to meet with the country's president to press him for an end to the bloodshed in Darfur.Despite having one of the most varied and impressive portfolios in politics, Richardson enters the race as an underdog. Polling in early voting states shows him ranking near the bottom in a very crowded Democratic field led by Clinton, Obama and 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards.Richardson does not have the national fundraising network of some of his rivals in what is bound to be a very expensive race. And he'll have to spend the next two months concentrating on a legislative session in Santa Fe instead of campaigning.But Richardson's decision to form an exploratory committee will allow him to begin raising money and putting together his campaign organization. A decision on whether to formally enter the race is expected in the spring.On Friday, Richardson ended a talk to the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce by responding to an audience member's prodding for him to announce his plans.He grinned and said: "Number one, the announcement will be made in New Mexico. Number two, I said I would do it before the end of January — I will stick with that. And number three ... regardless of any announcement, my main priority is being governor (and) the legislative session.""Now, anything more," he said. "Tune in."His office had no additional comment.William Blaine Richardson was born in Pasadena, Calif. His father was an international banker from Boston; his mother was Mexican. He spent his early childhood in Mexico City, where his father worked for CitiBank. As a teenager, he attended a tony boarding school in Concord, Mass., where he was pitcher on the baseball team — a sport he follows closely to this day.After graduating from Tufts University in 1971 with a master's degree in international affairs, Richardson worked first as a congressional aide and then for the State Department. He was a staffer for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when he decided to leave Washington in 1978 to launch a political career.Richardson settled in New Mexico, partly because of the state's large Hispanic population. In 1980, after only two years in the state, he surprised political experts by coming within 1,000 votes of unseating veteran Republican Rep. Manuel Lujan, who would later serve as Interior Secretary. In 1982, Richardson was elected to the House and then was re-elected seven times.In 1996, Clinton tapped Richardson to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, where he served until 1998, when he joined the Clinton cabinet as secretary of Energy. He was criticized by Congress during his two years at the helm of the Energy Department for his handling of alleged breaches of nuclear secrets and the botched case against Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee.He was easily elected governor of New Mexico in 2002 and re-elected in November with 68 percent of the vote. While governor, Richardson has continued to keep a high profile nationally and served as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association as it expanded its ranks with wins across the country.———Associated Press Writer Mark Evans contributed to this report from Albuquerque.———On the Net:Gov. Bill Richardson: http://www.governor.state.nm.us